North Broward News

WHAT ARE WE DOING?

Over the next 14 months the City of Tamarac will be working alongside its retained consultant, The Corradino Group Inc., and the community to update the City of Tamarac Comprehensive Plan. The plan will provide long-range planning policy direction which will be utilized to guide several areas of the city’s development over the next 20 years.

The last major update to the City’s Comprehensive Plan occurred between 2007 and 2009, with minor changes adopted throughout the years to address specific development areas. The current update will re-organize the plan around the City’s long-term goals and shift it to a more user-friendly format easily accessible online. Information in the updated plan will also be coordinated with the City’s current Strategic Planning process, which will serve as the foundation for action items to be implemented over the next 20 years as we progress towards the long-range vision of the Comprehensive Plan.

WHAT IS A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN?

The Comprehensive Plan, sometimes also referred to in short as the Comp Plan, is the foundational document of long-term planning and zoning initiatives established by the City usually for a projected time period of 20 years.

A Comprehensive Plan is an essential feature of long-term planning for cities and counties all over the United States, and is typically centered around a long-term vision for desired future land uses that significantly impact the built environment of a community.

Additionally, a Comprehensive Plan contains a large set of Data & Analyses of a city’s current conditions including population projections, number of built units in a particular structural category, Level of Service performances for existing infrastructure, and inventories of different public facilities such as schools, parks, roads etc. The process to update a Comprehensive Plan also examines the Future Land Use Map of a city to help determine the best placement of certain physical elements within an area such as: residential and commercial development, public service infrastructure, schools, parks, and roads. 

Lastly, a Comprehensive Plan lays the foundation for zoning codes, which are the legal tool for implementing the vision of the future contained within the Comprehensive Plan.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO UPDATE THE CITY’S COMPREHENSIVE PLAN?

The City’s Comprehensive Plan was first holistically adopted in 1990 and selected portions of the document have undergone revision mainly in response to compelling initiatives or requirements from the State of Florida and Broward County. As the City continues to evolve and experience growth, it is important to ensure that adequate public facilities are concurrently planned for the betterment of the community. Housing, Roadways, Schools, Parks, and other public infrastructure are important to the function of a community. Without the appropriate planning policies in place, the City would face many challenges in addressing the long-term needs of its growing population.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the 2040 Comprehensive Plan update is to provide the residential and business community of Tamarac, it’s elected officials, advisory boards, and city staff with a modernized, concise, engaging and implementable tool to guide the City's policy making, future growth and development decisions over the next 20+ years. This project consists of a thorough analysis of the City’s existing conditions which will contribute to the required Data, Inventory and Analysis (DIA) supporting documents for the 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update and an evaluation of the effectiveness and efficiency of the current Goals, Objectives, Guidelines and Policies as well as an identification of any existing inconsistencies within the various Elements of the City’s Comprehensive Plan. At the same time, the City is very interested in providing an opportunity for “Community Visioning” meetings and workshops that will lead to a process that will engage all members of the community in an effort to create a complete update of the City’s Comprehensive Plan. The Comprehensive Plan update shall also include additional strategies and tools designed to encourage effective implementation of a policy roadmap in alignment with future City projects and initiatives.

HOW TO GET INVOLVED!

We would love to hear from you! If you would like to participate in upcoming workshops for the drafting of the City of Tamarac 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update, please register for the Notify Me list under the “Stay Connected” button on the City’s webpage.

Each workshop will offer interactive opportunities for you to share your input on the future of Tamarac. The workshops are an integral part of the Public Outreach component of the Comprehensive Planning process and will be conducted during the Spring of 2023!

Original source can be found here.